BBC ignores culture of social science, says academy

The BBC must broaden its definition of science if it is to more accurately cover health, public finance and migration, the Academy of Social Sciences has said.

In its response to the BBC Trust’s review of the organisation’s use of statistics, published on 5 January, the academy says that without providing a “backdrop” of social science in its coverage, the BBC will not be able to emphasise the accuracy of the data it uses. 

This will be to the detriment of welfare, regional and communities coverage, it says, adding that both editors and journalists need to be “social science literate” in order to discuss such complex topics.